The Keene Family

Let me tell you a little story about this summer. On July 6, we got home from a lovely camping trip for the long weekend and found that the water supply line into our master bathroom toilet had cracked and leaked water all over the bathroom, through the floor, and into the office below. It also dripped over into the living room and landed on the piano. Nice. Jim found the problem around 7 PM so we had to wait until the next morning to call our insurance company. We cleaned up the water and waited. The next day, they assigned us to an adjuster. The day after that, I talked to the adjuster and he had a project manager at ServiceMaster come to our house that afternoon. Within two hours, there was a crew at my house tearing down the ceiling in the office and in the living room, and tearing up the floor in our master bathroom. I really had no idea they would demo that quickly. Then for the entire weekend we had seven large industrial fans and three dehumidifers running 24 hours a day. ...

We always look forward to fall for only one reason: college football. While Jim is a Husky, we also hold family ties to Alabama... we're talking Civil War (and Jim married a Yankee girl!). We loved going to the game against Auburn two years ago and we'd love to go back for more. We always wear our Bama gear on game day Friday and to watch them play. Sometimes people at the store think we're in Cougar colors, which is downright embarassing. If the Cougars ever play Alabama, we'll be buying front row seats to watch the carnage. Ready to cheer on Alabama Family photo Aunt Donna and Cathy made my top as a dress for Haley! :) At Grandpa and Grandma Keene's house for the Arkansas game

I did it! I finally skiied a full pass on a course in waterskiing. (What does that mean? See below.) After way too long of trying, I did it. I will make excuses about not having a boat for so long and having two maternity leaves, but really it comes down to finally being in great shape, consistently skiing, and working hard. Hooray! Here is a picture of me getting into the boat after my first full pass. Since then, I've done it more and have set a new personal best. Yay! Waterskiing a course: Boat goes straight through the middle boat guides (red buoys). Skiier enters through first boat guides (called gates) and continues around each turn ball (yellow buoys). You have to go around all six and back out the gates for it to count as a full pass. In case you're wondering, it gets harder when you do two things: go faster and make the rope shorter. So far I've bumped up my speed a tiny bit and still made it. It's harder than it looks. :) Of course, Jim has been doing it f...

It's about time I did an update on Haley. She is a very active little girl who can't seem to get enough of anything. She is signing "sleep" now when she's tired, which is usually right about nap time, and she crashes pretty hard. Then she wakes up cheerful and ready to go, go, go! She has finally conquered self feeding with a spoon which has made our meal times soooooo much easier. She really has never enjoyed being fed and is very pleased to do it herself. Now she eats a little more and that makes everyone happy. She has a new ability to build block towers. So far she's up to four. And seriously, how cute is she? I got out the tunnel the other day and she just went for it. She doesn't have a lot of fear about trying new things - a good quality and a dangerous one. She has also officially learned to blow out on command. This is super helpful when JT hands her his recorder. Awesome. The big news is that she has conquered stairs, both up and down...

We had a fabulous time at the Puyallup Fair last week! We went on Monday and it was still super crowded... I can't imagine what it must be like on the weekends. We went with our friends the Schmalz family so JT would have a buddy (and so we would have buddies, while we waited!). The weather was nice and the food was great. Hooray for the fair! First stop: Fair scones Second stop: tractors Haley wanted to drive one too Look how big it is! At the petting zoo Buddies. So sweet!  A little about the rides: we were so impressed that JT and Gracelyn wanted to ride the kid roller coaster all by themselves. The dads waiting in a pretty long line to get ride tickets. We buckled them in and sent them on their way...  And then JT hated it. It was actually pretty sad to watch, because the man running the ride kept encouraging the kids to put their arms in the air, so JT would because he thought that's what he was supposed to do, but he was screaming and crying, ...

You might recall that we bought JT a two wheeler for his birthday and it was just a bit too tall. We took the pedals off so he can use it like a Strider bike (balance bike) for awhile and then learn to pedal without ever having to use training wheels. We keep suggesting he try it again, and today he decided he was ready. (I am suspicious his friends Gracelyn and Eli peer-pressured him into it... good stuff.) Sure enough, his feet reach now and he can balance without falling over. He is still very cautious. I took video but it is painful to watch, as he moves at a snail's pace. But we are working on it! Pretty proud... and very handsome! Had to stop and "fix" something... such a boy.

Our friend Eli had his birthday party at this great little park in Renton, so we invited our friends Carrie, Emi, and Kenzi to join us there on Friday. We had such a great time catching up! JT and Emi are just a month apart in age, and Kenzi and Haley are about six months apart. Swinging That's right, Haley is six months older. Really. Enjoying a picnic lunch... Complete with a smooch from Emi! So sweet. JT helped Emi up the rock by holding her hand. They've been friends for 2 1/2 years! Haley wanted to climb the rock so badly. When JT moved down to play with Haley in the bark chips, she started filling his hood with them. After all, what are little sisters for? Matching Phil & Teds - waiting for big brother and sister to go to the bathroom. :)